This is a very enlightening way to look at depression. It's not just a physiological issue, or a social problem, or a spiritually-derived flaw. Those domains are woven together in people.
http://jdgreear.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/12/ask-anything-friday-depression-and-mental-illness.html
I'm going to quote here...
"Depression is smoke from the fire of the altar at which you worship. Anger, depression, jealousy, etc can be helpful messengers pointing you to where idolatry exists in your life. Don't simply wave away the smoke by medicating yourself. Use depression to get to the root of the issue and correct what is dysfunctional in your relationship to God."
So true. And I'm glad that someone else agrees that sometimes these things can actually help. Not that I like depression at all, but when it arises, I know that there's a "heart" problem I need to trust God more with. Not work on. Cause I can't work my way out of this pit.
I'm going to teaching you how to hyperlink... but good post! Wonder where you got that from!
ReplyDeleteI tried the hyperlink tool but the link wasn't visible when I published.
ReplyDeleteHey, that's a cool quote. I agree. Depression is something that a lot of people struggle with but don't ever talk about. I never looked at it in the light that it may be something that God can heal you of until this past year. I used to think that it is just something that we were born with and must live with...but the truth is, God doesn't want us to live like that. If he can heal the blind and raise the dead, he can heal us from anything.
ReplyDeleteEven outside of the context of Christianity, people do recover from depression... so yes, recovery is possible. But not for everyone... some people struggle with it their whole lives. The key is not to beg Jesus to take it away, but to understand that EVEN IF he does not, you will still love Him anyway. It's a test of what your heart holds fast to. Do we think only of pleasing ourselves, or are we giving more of ourselves to God?
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